Sam Sulek recently made his competitive debut at the NPC Legends Classic in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he secured first place in the Classic Physique division. But what did he eat during his cutting phase to achieve the best physique of his life?
The victory in Las Vegas qualified him for the NPC Arnold Amateur competition, held on February 27, 2025, in Columbus, Ohio. At this event, Sulek won the overall title in the Classic Physique category, earning his International Federation of Bodybuilding & Fitness (IFBB) Pro Card and officially becoming a professional bodybuilder.
Sam followed a strict diet to get ready for his competitive debut. He described it in his own words as: “Protein heavy. Carb and fat depleted slowly, combined with consistent cardio - before you know it, you’re going to have a damned six-pack likes it’s 2006 again.”
In this article we’ll look in more detail at the specific foods Sam Sulek eats when cutting, along with his macros, cutting hacks and his cardio regimen.
Sam Sulek’s Macros
What do Sam Sulek’s macros look like when he’s cutting? During his recent cut in December 2024, he was eating the following macros per day:
Carbohydrates – 150 grams
Protein – 250 grams
Fats – 70 grams
The body can become accustomed to being sustained by the same number of macronutrients so many bodybuilders slowly taper down their calories in phases to make sure they see continuous progression during a cutting phase.
Sam also takes this approach. He explains: “I’m eating 250g of protein, 70g of fats, and about 150g of carbs but I’m going to have to drop the carbs down. Maybe even to the 100g range. See what happens. I might trim the fats down to 60g and the protein is going to stay as it is.”
Tracking Macros
Sam Sulek is a big advocate for tracking macros precisely and he does this by using a food scale to weigh his food. This practice becomes even more important during a cutting phase where margins are smaller.
The bodybuilder has become accustomed to studying ingredient labels and macronutrient values intently. He believes everyone who wants to maximize the potential of their physique should improve their knowledge and awareness of the nutritional value of different food products.
Sam says: “Everyone should be getting extremely used to and involved with nutrition facts on a regular.”
He continues: “As anal and as OCD as it seems – it really is important to track all this stuff. If you want to get into it, you almost have to go all the way because if you don’t, you’re not going to reap the benefits.”
Sam Sulek believes that tracking macros accurately and weighing food on a food scale is extremely important during a cut. The harder you track and stick to your macros the better results you’re going to get.
He says: “If you’ve got a macro scale and you’re only half tracking you’re only going to get half the results. With the dieting it just doesn't work like that. If you diet half as hard as you should you’re not going to get as lean as you should.”
The bodybuilder continues: “You can’t do it 70% of the time and 30% of the time you slack off. You’ve got to be on this shit. I know it sucks. I’m not trying to say that counting all these calories is easy but if you can start to do it for long enough, I only mean weeks, then you should start to see noticeable results. And once you see those you have validation.”
Protein is King
The amount of protein Sam Sulek eats during a bulking phase and a cutting phase stays relatively similar. He instead reduces his carbohydrate and fat intake. This helps him to maintain as much muscle mass as possible while trimming bodyfat from his physique.
Sam explains: “Protein is simply a staple of bulking up or cutting down. If I’m bulking or cutting my protein intake isn’t going to change much. I’m still going to be eating 250g of protein from dedicated protein sources.”
The main protein sources he focus on are ground beef, top round steak, egg whites and chicken. During a cut Sam ensures that the ground beef is 96% lean and that the steak he buys is lean cut.
Every meal Sam Sulek eats throughout the day contains protein and some meals consist purely of protein. He says: “Every meal has one thing in common and that’s the protein part of it. Some of them are just dedicated protein meals.”
Cutting Hacks
A major part of Sam Sulek’s cutting diet is consuming egg whites. He used to separate the whites from the yolk of eggs manually but has recently started buying pre-packaged cartons of egg whites.
He explains: “I thought it was better to individually separate every egg yolk from every egg white. Something in my mind that made sense to me. Totally stupid – you’re wasting egg yolks, you’re wasting time, you’re causing a mess – it’s just foolish. So instead, I get egg white tubs now.”
With Sam reducing his carb and fat intake during a cut, meals can start to become a little less appetizing. A hack he uses to spice up his meals is using small servings of low-calorie sauces with meals such as egg whites.
He says: “I might put some low sugar barbecue sauce on it. I’m not a huge fan of just salt and pepper on the egg whites; it just doesn’t really do it for me. I’ll throw anything in the egg whites – it’s just a blank slate. I’ll do teriyaki sauce; I’ll throw mustard on there. It sounds a bit weird but if you want to get extra lean and look freaky you’ve got to some freaky shit!”
A low-calorie sauce Sam specifically recommends is light mayonnaise as it contains minimal amounts of fats and carbs. Using these types of sauces simply helps him increase his enjoyment levels when eating at little cost in the way of calories.
Sam says: “Light mayonnaise – this I wouldn’t say has been a lifesaver but it’s definitely a creature comfort. A teaspoon of this only has 3.5g of fat, 1g of carbs. For me to put one serving of this on a Turkey sandwich it certainly adds to my enjoyment of it, and it only costs me 3.5g of fat!”
He continues: “I sometimes have ketchup with ground beef. I’m not only looking for any tomato ketchup on the shelf. I’m looking for “No Sugar Added”. Zero fat, zero protein, 1g of carbs. For me, if I get a bowl of ground beef – it’s not the most appetizing thing in the world.”
Cardio
Sam Sulek usually does 30 minutes of cardio on an exercise bike each day when he’s bulking, however he increases his cardio time to 60 minutes during a cut to ensure he gets extra lean.
He says: “I’ve got to get extra lean, so cardio is longer than 30 minutes of just sitting down on the bike. I want to add a bit more. I need an extended period of time that I’m going to be elevating my heart rate.”
The new IFBB Pro doesn’t increase his exercise bike sessions to 60 minutes as he feels it’s too taxing on his legs which can subsequently affect his leg sessions.
Sam explains: “If I do an hour cardio it’s just too much on the bike. It just ends up thrashing my quads…It just doesn’t compute for me – I’m working my legs too much. That’s an argument I’ve seen against the cardio bike – it’s all quads. Which it is and for 30 minutes it’s not so bad but breaking past that 30-minute mark I start to feel it.”
Instead of increasing the amount of time he spends on the exercise bike, he sticks to 30 minutes on the bike and then follows it up with a 30-minute uphill walk on a treadmill.
He says: “Instead, I’m doing 30 minutes on the bike followed by 30 minutes on a treadmill. And the treadmill that’s the easy part. The treadmill is kind of chill. All I’m doing on the treadmill is having a walk, playing on my phone, or watching Yellowstone….30 minutes on the treadmill. 3 miles an hour. Mild incline. Nothing wild.”
Sam Sulek’s Cutting Diet
The cutting diet that Sam Sulek followed prior to winning the Overall Classic Physique title at the NPC Arnold Amateur competition in February 2025 where he gained his IFBB Pro Bodybuilding Card was as follows:
Protein Sources:
- Ground beef (96% lean)
- Top round steak (lean cut)
- Egg whites (pre-packaged cartons)
- Chicken
- Deli turkey meat
- Kraft Singles (cheese slices)
Carb Sources:
- Low-carb bread
- Low-carb tortillas
- Low-carb bread buns
Condiments & Extras:
- Low-sugar barbecue sauce
- Teriyaki sauce
- Mustard
- Light Mayonnaise
- Salt and pepper
- Heinz Tomato Ketchup (No Sugar Added)
Supplements
How Sam Sulek Cuts: Quick Overview
During a cut, Sam Sulek mainly focuses on high-protein, lean foods with controlled fat intake and keeps his carbs low by choosing low-carb bread and tortillas. He sticks religiously to his target macros and does this my using a food weighing scale.
In his last cut, his macros were Carbohydrates – 150 grams, Protein – 250 grams and Fats – 70 grams. He gradually tapered his carbohydrate and fat intake down lower than this to see continued progress.
Sam also increases his cardio to 60 minutes per day, doing 30 minutes on an exercise bike followed by a 30-minute uphill walk on a treadmill.
